Detective Kiba

Standing there with his hands in his pockets, Shikamaru kept his eyes on Temari while the rest of the shinobi joined the commotion around Naruto. His face remained cool and collected, but Temari caught the subtle smile that was curled up in the corner of his lips. He raised an eyebrow at her, questioning the predicament he had found her in. That was the first time he'd ever seen her leisurely interact with the girls. Quick to decipher his curious expression, Temari just shrugged back at him.

With the smirk still on his face, he lowered his eyelids at her. The way he looked at made her tensed up. It was the same way he looked at her last night during their tug-of-war for control. Shikamaru treated sex with Temari like a game, and he played her very well. Even in bed, they were still polar opposites. Shikamaru moved very slow and sensually, as if every touch had a purpose. Temari, however, was very impulsive. His patience gave him the upper hand, allowing him to taunt her until her body was burning with anticipation. Feeling the heat rising to the surface of her skin again, Temari was thankful for the interruption that occurred next.

"No one's talking about you. You're not that important, Naruto!" Sakura stuck her tongue out at him.

"Yeah, right! I heard my name!"

Sakura continued to glare at him for few seconds before breaking into a fit of laughter. "Okay. Calm down," she began. "We were just giving you credit for the ring you chose for Hinata."

"Oh," Naruto relaxed and started to laugh in unison with her. He wrapped his good arm around Hinata, who still blushed whenever he'd touched her. "Well, that was all thanks to you. You told me hold out until I saw the ring I felt represented Hinata best!"

Sakura was elated. She cupped her face in her hands and squealed, "I've taught you well, Naruto!"

Naruto continued smiling at her until he saw the whiskey bottle on their table. "Yamazaki?! What are we celebrating?"

"Sorry, Naruto. We," Ino said, pointing to the girls. "—are celebrating. But next time, I promise! We want to talk about, well you know, girl stuff."

"Are you suddenly too cool to hang out with us, Ino?" Choji whined between handfuls of potato chips.

"You're welcomed to join our conversation about the grueling diet we have to go on in order to look ah-mazing in our bridesmaid dresses," Ino said as she dramatically flipped her hair back. She knew exactly how to get Choji disinterested in something.

"Nope. I'm good," Choji said, making his way across the crowded restaurant to the table that was being prepared for them.

"I'll pass on that too," Kiba said. "But I expect to see you ladies at my party tomorrow!"

"We'll be there," Tenten promised and winked.

"Yo! Feisty lady," Kiba turned and pointed to Temari. "You're coming too. Tell your brother he owes me a rematch for cheating in beer pong last time."

"Gaara and Kankuro aren't in town, but I'll relay the message for you." Temari replied, setting her empty glass on a coaster before looking up at him.

"Damn. Alright, well. I better see you still," Kiba flash her a sheepish grin. He gave Shikamaru's back a hard smack as he turned to walk away with Shino and Akamaru trailing behind him. A waiter chased after them, stuttering something about animals being prohibited indoors.

While Shikamaru stood there trying to process what just happened, Lee marched up to Temari and saluted her. "Temari-sama."

"Temari is fine," she corrected him.

"You are the Kazekage's sister, Temari-sama. I apologize, but I insist that I address you properly!" Lee said, still in his stance. Temari ran her fingers through her bangs and sighed at his formality.

"Why isn't Gaara-sama with you?" Lee continued to ask her.

Naruto echoed Lee's question. "Yeah, where is he hiding? I didn't see him at the Hokage's office!"

Temari couldn't help but smile. She found Naruto's friendly rivalry and Lee's adulation for her brother very endearing. It made her happy to see Gaara's compassion for the people in his life being reciprocated. "Well," Temari began to explain. "He's a Kage, so he's very busy doing 'Kage' things. You know, like running our village for example."

Naruto flinched in jealousy at first, but quickly smiled with enthusiasm and said, "If he can't come to us, then we'll bring the party to Suna next time!"

"Yes! Great idea, Naruto! Gaara must be included in our merry festivities! We have to celebrate together. This is what the youth is all abou—," Lee was interrupted by a pair of chopsticks hitting his face.

"Stop it, Lee." Tenten commanded. She dusted her hands and sat back down into her seat.

Temari chuckled at the mental image of the Konoha shinobi showing up to Suna for a party. "You know what? I'm sure Gaara would appreciate the company."

Naruto threw his fist in the air and cheered, "Alright! You can bet on it happening! That's a promise!" He nervously gave Hinata a kiss on the cheek and rushed past Neji to join the other table. The jinchuriki has been extremely cautious around Neji ever since he proposed to Hinata. Even though Neji considered Naruto a formidable rival, his childish antics kept him prone to dangerous accidents. This made Neji extremely uneasy about his constant presence around Hinata. Naruto found that a protective Neji proved to be scarier than any human or deity he'd ever encountered.

"Hinata-sama. Tenten. Everyone." Neji bowed.

"See ya," was all Shikamaru said. He kept his eyes on Temari as he turned to walk away with Neji, only looking away once she was out of his peripheral vision.

After the guys left, the girls shared another toast before resuming to their conversation. Ino was trying her best to engage in the excitement over helping Hinata plan the wedding, but couldn't shake Shikamaru's glare. It was as if it was piercing through her chakra. The blonde kunoichi nervously poured herself another serving of whiskey, praying that the alcohol would help her block him out. Unfortunately, she felt her head reluctantly turn to look in his direction the moment she set the bottle down.

Damn him… she thought as she glared at him from across the restaurant.

Shikamaru made a pistol with his hand and brought it up to his temple. That was their team's secret signal on and off the battlefield whenever they needed to communicate through her. He withdrew his shadow and watched as Ino rolled her eyes at him.

"What?" He finally heard her voice in his head.

"What do you think you're doing, Ino?"

"Having lunch!" He could hear her voice beaming.

"And drinking. Shots. With her. And in the afternoon for god's sake."

"Oh. Yeah. I ran into her and invited her to join us."

"Why?"

"Ino, are you okay?" Tenten's voice interrupted her thoughts. "You're really quiet and look super annoyed."

"Sorry! It's just… You know when you suddenly remember everything you have get done?" Ino lied, laughing nervously.

"Worry about that later! You're the one who wanted to celebrate!"

"Right!" Ino smiled and took another sip of her whiskey.

"Ino." Shikamaru's voice rang in her head again.

"Hold on! I'm trying to carry two conversations here. To answer your question, I was just being nice. She was by herself and I figured she wouldn't mind some company."

"Don't be so troublesome."

"She's having fun. No one is forcing her to stay, and she's the one who offered to buy the bottle of whiskey."

"Yamazaki is your favorite whiskey, Ino." Shikamaru's repetition of her name was starting to get on her nerves. It made her feel as if she was being scolded by a parent.

"But she insisted on ordering it! I have to say, you're awfully possessive about someone who isn't even your girlfriend yet... Or… is she?"

"Choji, what are you doing…?"

Across the table, Neji was giving Choji the same questioning look he always gave Guy-sensei whenever he would do something strange, which was almost all the time. Choji had noticed Shikamaru sending their secret signal to Ino. He was furiously tapping his temple with his index and middle fingers to let her know that she had forgotten to include him in the conversation, but she never looked in his direction.

"Nothing," Choji said. He turned his attention to the appetizers that had finally arrived, deciding that he would ask Shikamaru about it later.

Shikamaru was thankful for Choji's distraction. Ino's question caught him off guard, and he was sure it was showing on his face. "Just promise to stay out of trouble. And don't do anything embarrassing either."

"Okay, Nii-san." Ino reassured him, addressing him by the nickname she used intimately with him and Choji. "I'll stay out of trouble, but I can't promise you that she will. She's too scary for me to boss around! Ja ne!"

"Ino!"

He was met with nothing but silence. Ino had already disconnected their link. He sighed. Ugh. Women are so troublesome.

"Shikamaru!" Choji yelled when he saw that Shikamaru was done communicating with Ino.

"What is it, Choji?" Shikamaru asked. He felt Choji's warm breath next to his face. The greasy smell of ponzu sauce and potato chips filled his nostrils, forcing him to lean against Kiba in attempt to distant himself from Choji's mouth.

"What was that about? Why didn't Ino include me?!" Choji tried to whisper, but to no avail. Like Naruto, he only had two volumes: loud and louder.

Shikamaru glanced in Temari's direction before grabbing the pitcher of beer from the middle of their table. "It wasn't important."

Choji caught who he was looking at. "Oh, was it about Temari-san?"

"No, now stop hogging the gyoza." Shikamaru said abruptly to change the subject. Kiba jammed his elbow into Shikamaru's ribcage as he reached for a dumpling, causing him drop it into the dish of ponzu sauce.

"Of course it was," Kiba said under his breath just loud enough for Shikamaru to hear.

"What are you talking about?" Shikamaru asked, fishing the dumpling out of the ponzu sauce.

"You and Warrior Princess of the Sand over there."

"What?"

"Dude, her scent is all over you!" Kiba accused under his breath.

Stunned and speechless, Shikamaru dropped the gyoza into the sauce again. His mind flashed to Temari wearing his shirt. He had completely forgotten about Kiba's heightened sense of smell.

"I mean you smell like you showered," Kiba continued. "But your clothes smell exactly like her. That, I get, but why does your hair smell like her? That's just weird, bro." Kiba stood up in his seat and sniffed Shikamaru's hair.

"What are you doing?! I'm weird?! This looks awkward as hell!" Shikamaru hissed as he hastily yanked Kiba back into his seat.

"Oh, that must be hers. That would explain the new hairdo today," Kiba reckoned, looking in Temari's direction.

Defeated, Shikamaru raised both his hands in the air. He knew there was no point in lying or dodging the question anymore when he was literally wearing the evidence. "Tch. You might make a better strategist than a shinobi, Kiba."

Kiba smirked, "So... was last night your first time?"

Shikamaru choked on his beer.

"Yeah. I can smell that too, buddy." Kiba said with a smug smile on his face. "I might be a better detective than a strategist. That shit you do sounds complicated as fuck."

Shikamaru placed a hand on Kiba's shoulder and looked at him dead in the eye. "Kiba," he said, the expression on his face and the tone in his voice completely serious. "The secrets you must have on people could possibly take down Konoha..."

Kiba blinked a few times before bursting into laugher, "You don't even know the half of it, man!" He tapped his glass against Shikamaru's for a cheers chugged the rest of his beer.

Three hours and four rounds later, the girls were laughing happily as they reminisced about their childhood encounters with one another. Ino reached for the bottle to pour the last round for their table.

Tenten covered her mouth with her hand, "Nope. I'm done."

"Same," Sakura agreed.

"Aw, c'mon! There's exactly five shots left!" Ino whined and pouted at her friends. Tenten and Sakura shook their heads and turned away from the alcohol. Ino huffed, she looked over at Hinata. "Hinata?"

"Sure," Hinata answered, lifting her glass to Ino. Aside from the whiskey on her breath and a tint of rose on her cheeks, Hinata appeared completely unaffected by the alcohol.

"That's my girl!" Ino praised before turning to the remaining kunoichi. "Temari?"

"Sure, but it'll be my last." Temari placed her hand on her stomach, "I don't have the capacity for another shot. The noodles were quite filling."

Temari sat out of the final round as Ino and Hinata polished off the remnants of the bottle. Then the girls paid for their meal and joined their male comrades outside. Sakura immediately left with Tenten after saying a quick goodbye, claiming how they desperately needed to rehydrate. Lee, the only one that didn't touch a single drop of alcohol, accompanied them to ensure the safety of his friend and and his former crush.

"Are you ready, Hinata? I'll walk you home," Naruto asked her. She nodded at him. "See you guys tomorrow night!" he said as he turned and waved to his friends before walking off. He only managed a few paces before he noticed that Neji was walking with them. Naruto started to sweat profusely as he asked, "Oi, Neji. Are you… walking this direction too?"

"Are you asking me if I'm walking in the direction of the Hyuga residence?"

"Oh, right." Naruto nervously laughed, scratching the back of his head. His shoulders slumped as he continued his awkward journey with Neji and Hinata.

Shino adjusted his glasses. "Those three…" he sighed, causing the remainder of the group to laugh.

"See you tomorrow!" Choji gave Shikamaru a nudge as he walked by him. Ino followed behind him, hanging onto Sai to balance herself. She waved over her shoulder at her friends until they were out of sight.

"Welp. See you guys tomorrow then. Oh, and Shikamaru? Please come in a clean outfit," Kiba snickered before walking away with Shino.

Shikamaru closed his eyes and rubbed the back of his head. "How troublesome…"

"What was that about?" Temari whispered once Kiba and Shino were out of sight.

"Kiba smelled you on my clothes," he explained. Shoving his hands into the pockets of pants, he began to walk down the street. "And… what happened last night."

"Oh," was all a very embarrassed Temari could muster up. She stood there stunned until she suddenly noticed that he wasn't walking in the direction of her inn."Hey, wait. Where are you going?"

He stopped to look over his shoulder at her. "Didn't you hear him? I need to change." Shikamaru had expected her to follow him as she usually would, but he suddenly realized that going to his apartment was not quite the same as escorting her to the Hokage's office. "Oh. Uh. You can come if you'd like… unless you want to go back to your inn and meet up after."

Temari kept her eyes on the ground. She knew what she wanted. What she didn't want was to sound too desperate or clingy. The alcohol made it hard for her to organized her thoughts. She heard herself admit, "I'll go with you."

They walked in silence as the sunset started to paint the sky bright hues of red and orange. It reminded her of Sunagakure. She looked over at Shikamaru, who was now walking with his fingers laced behind his head. Temari had the sudden urge to break the stillness between them. Alcohol always made her chattier than she'd like to be. "Sakura knows about us too."

Shikamaru kept his eyes on the road before them. "Oh?"

"I thought I could pass off the 'present' you left on my neck as a scratch," she explained. "But Sakura said any medical-nin could differentiate between the two."

"She… knows a thing or two about bite marks…" he scoffed to himself. "You should have told her you ran into Orochimaru… God knows why we let him roam around Konoha. Kakashi is probably laughing at how spooked the town is from his tower."

Temari found herself chuckling under her breath. They briefly stopped to allow a group of children to run across their path. Shikamaru smiled to himself as an image of Asuma quickly flashed in his head.

"Sakura didn't ask who it was from," she continued. "She just called out the teeth marks on my neck and brought me into the bathroom to heal it. But… she's a smart girl. I'm sure she can put two and two together."

"That she is," he said. Still walking with his arms behind his head, he shifted his gaze from the street to Temari. "So... you didn't like the 'present' I left you then?"

"Don't be annoying," she grunted. "I can't wear my hair up if you keep leaving those."

"At least it wasn't a hickey," he teased. "And why don't you like your hair down?"

"Probably the same reason you don't," she retorted.

As they turned the corner, Shikamaru closed his eyes and sighed. She had him there. "Ino and Choji dragged out of me a few weeks ago," he admitted. "Ino hounded me for an entire weekend until I told her about you."

"I know. They were spying on us the night you met me by the Naka River. You didn't see because you were facing away from the window when were at the restaurant."

"Tch. So that's how they found out." The bustling streets of Konoha was finally calming down around them. Shop owners began lighting lanterns outside to illuminate their signs. "So…" he slowly began. "We're not exactly a secret then, huh?"

"No," she responded. "I guess not."

"But what exactly are we?" Shikamaru asked. Shit. That was really forward. He turned away from her to hide his embarrassment, cursing at himself for not thinking before he spoke. He blamed the beer for his recklessness.

"Dating," Temari answered him without any inhibition. The whiskey was hitting her harder than she had expected as well. It obliterated the verbal filter that she usually had in place. "It's called dating," she continued. "When people try to figure out what they want to do with each other, right?"

Her directness stunned him, leaving him at a loss for words. However, the more he thought about it, the more it made sense to him. "That... doesn't sound too troublesome at all. Maybe it's not as hard as I thought it'd be…" he slowly admitted.

Temari just shrugged. She wasn't quite sure herself, but she figured that was a problem for sober Temari.

"Careful," she warned. "Isn't that what you said about your mission to retrieve Sasuke?"

Shikamaru flinched.

"That was an understatement of the century. How long did that take?" she continued to taunt him.

He furrowed his brows and narrowed his eyes are the street in front of them.

"Five? Six years?"

"Shut up."

"Remember how I immediately, and I stress, immediately had to rescue you from Tayu—"

"Shut up!"

Oh my goddddd. I took out a ton of dialogue which in turn took away from the character development of the other Rookie 9, but will probably reuse the material for an upcoming chapter. Even I felt like this was lacking a lot of ShikaTem for being a ShikaTem fic.

That's okay though. I already have the next chapter drafted up when I can finally focus on our favs.

I don't know. Please me know if this pace is fine for you, or if its dragging on too long.